1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a key hole insertion of a manhole cover (including a handhole cover) formed at a manhole including a handhole, to a manhole cover locking apparatus equipped with the key hole insertion, to a manhole cover locking system, to a method for unlocking the manhole cover, and to a control system for opening and closing the manhole cover.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, according to highly developing road functions due to increase of property occupying roads and management incidental facilities such as a water supply and sewer systems, electric power systems, communications systems, and gas systems, and due to wide ranges of management information, collection of information and work on site where at work or the like becomes complicated, troublesome, and inefficient Therefore, constructions cannot be advanced without collecting and reading such information sources as maps or reports of each manager of property occupying roads.
To deal with this situation, road management systems utilizing a computer mapping have been promoted these days. With the system, each manhole cover has an IC chip storing the management data of roads, road management incidental facilities and property occupying roads; the field manager or field constructor can read the information related to the field management operation with a non-contact or contact reader. This technology has been proposed for realizing a better effectiveness of the rapid and accurate patrol, on site examination, construction, on-site meeting or the like.
Meanwhile, because the conventional locking apparatus for the manhole cover has relatively simple locking mechanism in which a tool is inserted from outside through a key hole formed in the manhole for locking or unlocking, an IC chip containing the management data of the management data of roads, road management incidental facilities or the property occupying roads is not sufficiently secured.
According to an prior art disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Heisei No.6-4199, a locking apparatus to prevent easily opening of manhole cover is described as shown in FIG. 22 (a), in which a rotatable locking portion 52 rotatably mounted to a cover body serving as a manhole cover engages with an engaging portion 54 of a supporting frame 53 to lock the manhole cover 51 and in which, to unlock the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover, a tool, not shown, is inserted through an upper inserting opening 55 formed in the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover and pushed downward enough to engage with a locking portion 52 through a lower inserting opening 56 of the locking portion 52 and thereafter pulled to release the locking portion 52 from the engaging portion 54 of the supporting frame 53.
Mounted detachably from the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover in a holding seat 57 placed in the lower portion of the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover is a locking body 58 shown in FIG. 22 (b) detachably from the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover to prevent the insertion of the tool which is not shown. A lock base 59 having a head-shaped lock portion 59a is secured to the holding seat 57, and the locking body 58 is inserted through the upper inserting opening 55 of the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover and mounted in such a manner that the lock portion 59a of the lock base 59 is contained inside an insertion chamber 58a formed on the bottom of the locking body 58. A key 60 is inserted in the locking body 58 and subsequently turned to engage the lock piece 58b formed at the locking body 58 with the lock portion 59a of the lock base 59, thereby locking the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover with the locking body 58.
The locking body 58 has an openable and closeable key cover 58c on a top of the locking body 58, and the key cover 58c is fastened to the locking body 58 by a polygonal wrench or the like.
To open the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover, the firmly fixed key cover 58c is to be loosed enough to open the key cover 58c to move its position from the upper insertion opening 55 to be on the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover, and then the lock piece 58b is released from the lock portion 59a by inserting and turning the key 60 in the locking body 58, resulting in unlocking the locking body 58.
After the locking body 58 is removed from the upper insertion opening 55 of the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover, a tool, not shown, is inserted through the upper insertion opening 55 of the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover and forcibly pushed downward enough to engage with lower insertion opening 56 of the locking portion 52; pulling the tool causes the locking portion 52 to be released from the engaging portion 54 of the supporting frame 53, thus opening the cover body 51 serving as a manhole cover.
According to the structure above, when the cover is closed and in a locked position, the upper insertion opening 55 is filled with the key cover 58c of the locking body 58, and any tool or bar cannot be inserted unless the locking body 58 is removed. Because the key cover 58c conceals the key hole through which the key 60 is inserted into the locking body 58, and because the key cover 58c is firmly fastened by a polygonal wrench or the like to the locking body 58, the locking body 58 cannot be removed without special tools such as the polygonal wrench or the key 60, and therefore, it is preventable that the manhole cover is easily open.
The prior art above, however, raises problems that works are not easy due to increase of locking and unlocking steps because the key cover 58c for concealing the key hole is fastened by a polygonal wrench or the like to prevent the key 60 from becoming unable to be inserted due to grit in the key hole of the key cover 58 in which the key 60 is inserted.
It is also a problem that because the locking and unlocking states of each manhole cover cannot be managed in an integrated manner that the security of the manhole""s inner facility might not be maintained when the operator leaves the site without unlocking or forgets locking the cover.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a key hole insertion for a manhole cover, a manhole cover locking apparatus equipped with the key hole insertion, a manhole cover locking system, an unlocking method, and a control system for opening and closing the manhole cover in which the key hole insertion rejectable an external access is detachably fitted to the key hole, in which a control chip mounted in the key hole insertion receives an unlocking command sent from outside, thus approving the opening and closing of the manhole cover, in which then a locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion, based on the command transmitted from the control chip, can unlock the key hole insertion from the key hole to lock the manhole cover surely and securely with the simple structure, in which only a person or group authorized to unlock can unlock, and in an electronic locking assembly can be easily added to the conventional locking apparatus of a conventional manhole cover with no electronic locking assembly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an opening and closing control system of a manhole cover, in which a central control apparatus sends an unlock signal to the key hole insertion detachably fitted to the key hole formed in the manhole cover body and capable of rejecting an external access to integrally manage a locking or unlocking conditions of the manhole covers, and in which the system provides a simple structure, but achieves locking in a sure and strict way.
The key hole insertion according to the invention has a locking apparatus cap detachably fitted to the key hole mounted in the manhole cover for rejecting an external access through the key hole, a control chip mounted in the locking apparatus cap in which the control chip receives an unlock signal transmitted from outside to approve the opening of the manhole cover, a locking unit mounted in the locking apparatus cap for unlocking the locking apparatus cap from the key hole upon receiving a control command from the control chip.
According to the above structure, after a non-contact reading and writing terminal or the like is used for a personal identity confirmation (ID), an unlock signal is transmitted to the control chip from outside, and only when the control chip, receiving the unlock signal, allows the manhole cover to open or close, the locking unit can unlock the key hole insertion from the key hole of the manhole cover body, thus achieving a sure and strict locking of the manhole cover.
When the insertion is structured such that pins extendable radially outward with respect to an inserting portion of the locking apparatus cap to be inserted in the key hole in the cover body can be engaged with an engaging portion of the cover body, the inserting portion of the locking apparatus cap is designed to be inserted into the key hole of the cover body, and at the same time the pins of the locking apparatus unit mounted in the inserting portion of the locking apparatus cap engages with the engaging portion formed at the cover body to lock the cover body, thereby rejecting an external access through the key hole.
Only persons or groups authorized can easily unlock by accessing to the key hole of the cover body since the locking unit pulls the pins, only when an unlock signal is transmitted to a control chip from the outside and when the control chip receives an unlock signal from outside and admits the manhole cover to open, to disengage from the engaging portion mounted in the cover body, thus putting the key hole insertion out of the key hole.
In addition, it is economically preferred to additionally have the structure ready to have a key hole insertion without major design changing in manhole covers or manhole facilities, because it is only required to add an engaging body for engaging with pins to a key hole formed at the cover body of the preexisting manhole cover that is previously used.
When the unlock signal is transmitted from a non-contact reading and writing terminal used for identification of a person or group authorized to unlock, only when the access is admitted after identification of a person or group by the non-contact reading and writing terminal, the person or group accessible to the key hole of the manhole cover body can easily unlock where the non-contact reading and writing terminal transmits the unlock signal from outside to the control chip.
The manhole cover locking apparatus in one embodiment is characterized in that a cap holding member for receiving the key hole insertion is affixed to an outer peripheral surface of the key hole of the cover body and that the pins extendable radially outward formed at the inserting portion of the locking apparatus cap inserted into a through hole of the cap holding member toward the key hole of the cover body can be engaged with the engaging portions placed radially to the through hole of the cap holding member.
According to the above structure, the insertion body of the locking apparatus cap is inserted toward the key hole of the cover body into the through hole of the cap holding member, and the pins of the locking apparatus unit mounted in the insertion body of the locking apparatus cap engage with the engaging portions placed radially round the through hole of the cap holding member to lock the manhole cover, so that an external access to the key hole can be denied.
Only when an unlock signal is transmitted to the control chip from outside and when the control chip, receiving the unlock signal, admits to open and close the manhole cover, the locking unit pulls the pins to disengage the pins from the engaging portions of the cap holding member, so that authorized persons or groups only can easily unlock the key by accessing to the key hole of the cover body upon pulling the key hole insertion out of the cap holding member.
A structure having the key hole insertion mounted can be easily formed by only securing the cap holding member to the cover body of a conventionally used, preexisting manhole cover, so that it is economically preferred because no major change in the manhole cover or the manhole facilities is required.
The manhole cover locking system according to another embodiment of the invention is a system in which the key hole insertion attached detachably in a key hole in a cover body of a manhole cover can reject an external access to the key hole, characterized in having a personal identification tag including a personal authentication code of a person or a group who is authorized to unlock the manhole cover, a non-contact reading and writing terminal used for sending an unlock signal after recognizing the personal authentication code in the personal identification tag to identify a person or a group who is authorized to unlock the manhole cover, a control chip mounted in the key hole insertion for receiving the unlock signal sent from the non-contact reading and writing terminal to approve an opening of the manhole cover, and a locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion for unlocking the key hole insertion from the key hole upon receiving a control signal sent from the control chip.
When performing authentication and identification by the non-contact reading and writing terminal using a personal identification number and/or password or cipher, as long as one or more authenticating conditions unique only to an authorized person to access are not be satisfied, no one can access to the key hole of the manhole cover, thereby providing improved security.
In the case that input mistakes of the personal identification number and/or the password are admitted prescribed times and that the unlocking process is not authorized where the personal identification number or password is not matched after reaching the times thereby to freeze the use of the person identification tag, unlocking operation performance is improved by permitting input mistakes of a registered operator authorized to unlock the manhole cover on and before reaching the prescribed times, and also an external access by an unauthorized intruder can be refused, thereby preventing such accidents as an information leakage or subversive activities beforehand
When an unlocking state of the key hole insertion to the key hole by the locking unit is designed to return to the locking state after a prescribed time passed, the key hole insertion can be automatically locked to the key hole if an operator leaves the working spot with the cover unlocked for some reasons, thereby ensuring all possible security.
When the result of the authentication and identification by the non-contact reading and writing terminal is designed to be shown on a display means mounted in the non-contact reading and writing terminal, the authorization or refusal of the access to the key hole can be easily notified, and also the reason for the refusal can be notified if necessary.
Also, when it is constructed that, after the authentication and identification is made by the non-contact reading and writing terminal, designated information stored in the control chip can be inquired with the non-contact reading and writing terminal, only an authorized person or a group can inquire about various information stored in the control chip such as roads, management data or the like, such as various plumbing diagrams, wiring diagrams or the like with the embedded incidental facilities and the property occupying roads.
Where the control chip and the locking unit have an electric power accumulating means respectively for receiving external electric power without any contact as well as for storing the electric power, the external electric power, when the manhole cover is unlocked, is fed to the electric power accumulating means without a contact, thus securing the operating power for the control chip and the locking unit.
As for the unlocking method of the locking system for manhole covers in another embodiment of the invention, using the locking system for manhole cover, the personal identification tag is recognized, as a first step, with the non-contact reading and writing terminal, and then a personal identification number and/or a password is entered to be authenticated and identified; at this stage, the non-contact reading and writing terminal transmits an unlocking signal to the control chip, and then the locking unit, upon receiving a control signal from the control chip, unlocks the key hole insertion from the key hole.
According to the unlocking method mentioned above, because only an authorized person or group can access to the key hole of the cover body of the manhole cover, while maintaining sure security, it is easily possible to unlock the manhole cover with simple operation without imposing an uncomfortable posture to the person or group in the unlocking operation.
As for the opening and closing control system for manhole covers in another embodiment of the invention, the opening and closing control system for manhole covers includes a key hole insertion detachably fitted to the key hole mounted in the cover body of the manhole cover as well as rejectable an external access; additionally in the system, there is a non-contact or contact reading type telecommunications terminal for recognizing a cover placement code of the manhole cover stored in the memory section of the control chip mounted in the key hole insertion while recognizing a personal authentication code of a personal identification tag obtained by an authorized person or group to unlock the manhole cover; and there is also a central controlling apparatus for allowing to open the manhole cover upon receiving the personal authentication code and the placement code transmitted from the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal; and in the system, the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal transmits an unlock signal to the control chip upon receiving an unlock-permitting signal transmitted from the central controlling apparatus, and the locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion is controlled by a control signal transmitted from the control chip, thus unlocking the key hole insertion from the key hole.
Since the invention is structured as mentioned above, the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal recognizes a personal authentication code of the personal identification tag and a cover placement code of the manhole cover stored in the memory section of the control chip mounted in the key hole insertion, thereafter transmitting the personal authentication code and the placement code to the central controlling apparatus; the central controlling apparatus, in turn, effects authentication (ID) and identification of the person as well as authentication (ID) and identification of the manhole to be chosen; after the authentication and identification process, an unlock-permitting signal transmitted from the central controlling apparatus is received by the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal which, in turn, transmits an unlock signal to the control chip; and according to a control signal transmitted from the control chip, the locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion is controlled for unlocking the key hole insertion from the key hole mounted in the cover body; and therefore, it is possible to lock the manhole cover surely and securely, and only the authorized person or group can easily unlock the cover.
Also, since the central controlling apparatus commands unlocking permission of the key hole insertion, the locking state or unlocking state of the manhole cover can be integrally managed, and preservation of the facilities inside manholes can be securely achieved.
In the case where the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal receives an unlock-permitting signal transmitted from the central controlling apparatus and transmits the unlock-permitting signal to the control chip, and after comparison of the unlock-permitting signal is conducted inside the control chip, according to a control signal transmitted from the control chip the locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion is controlled to unlock the key hole insertion from the key hole, sure and secure preservation can be achieved by comparing an unlock-permitting signal inside the control chip.
When the central controlling apparatus monitors opening and closing states of the manhole covers based on opening cover information and closing cover information transmitted from the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal, a locking state or unlocking state of the manhole covers can be managed successively and integrally; for example, a series of operational proceeding status of a construction can be recognized by monitoring the opening cover information and closing cover information of a plural manhole covers, or by mapping the opening cover information and the closing cover information, such information is also available to traffic information or the like.
When it is constructed such that designated information stored in the central controlling apparatus can be inquired by the non-contact or contact reading telecommunications terminal at the stage where the central controlling apparatus admits the opening cover of the manhole cover, only an authorized person or group can inquire about various information stored in the central controlling apparatus such as roads, management data or the like, such as various plumbing diagrams, wiring diagrams or the like with the embedded incidental facilities and the property occupying roads.